Tag Archives: suspense thriller

The Apartment by K.L. Slater

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Freya accepts a too good to be true offer of an inexplicably affordable luxurious apartment in a desperate moment, exposing herself and her daughter to nefarious landlords. Slater leads the reader on a curving, dipping trail of hidden agendas and friendly facades, reminding us that we are never truly alone and nothing is ever truly private. Fans of Catherine Steadman and T.M. Logan will love the suspense and wicked reveal. I highly recommend this thriller. I was fortunate to receive a copy from the publisher Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

What She Never Said by Catharine Riggs

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There are secrets galore amongst the employees of Serenity Acres. Ruth’s anticipated promotion disappears when the owner sells the company due to, unbeknownst to Ruth, incredible debt. When she discovers a secret society planning deaths of seniors in her care, she hires her former detective neighbor Zach to investigate undercover as security. Even Ruth must give up her secrets eventually. Riggs brilliantly builds tension within several aspects of the multi-thread storyline, intriguing Dear Reader, serving up the satisfying secrets in a timely manner. I received this excellent story from the publisher Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

The Whisper Man by Alex North

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Children made up a rhyme about the serial killer The Whisper Man. Though he’s in prison, a young boy’s abduction matches his MO. Young Jake Kennedy, whose father moved them into a new house after his wife’s death, has begun hearing whispers outside his window. Detective Amanda Beck joins original detective on The Whisper Man’s case, Pete Willis. The two storylines come together, but not seamlessly. The supernatural element in Jake’s storyline is not fully explored and somewhat confuses the issue. It feels like a crime thriller trying to be a paranormal horror. All in all, it’s still a good story. I was fortunate to receive this suspenseful tale from the publisher Celadon Books through NetGalley.

The Victim by Max Manning

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An attack turned carjacking leaves Gem fearful. As the police investigation reveals more than she suspected, Gem become determined to not live the life of a victim. I received an ARC, so I expect that the chapters being out of sync were resolved in the final copy. This made the story hard to follow, with dead characters alive in alternate chapters. With this resolved, this is a fun to read thriller. Thank you to the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark for offering this story through NetGalley.

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

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Abbie knows something is different about her when she awakes in a hospital facing a stranger calling himself her husband and informing her that they have an autistic child. The more she learns about their life, the more disturbed she is by that stranger, her husband. She is determined to discover how she ended up in the hospital, who she is exactly, and how to protect their son. Delaney blends technology into the story so well that at one point it’s challenging to determine who is who and who has done what to whom. The moral of the story seems to be beware human megalomania rather than the technology they produce. I was fortunate to receive this well-written, accessible sci-fi story from the publisher Ballantine Books through NetGalley.

Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly

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Dixie Wheeler was known as Baby Blue for the song playing when she was discovered at the crime scene where her father murdered their family and killed himself. She seeks understanding and closure in purchasing her family’s house and recreating her childhood home. Things happen that make her question her sanity and her own propensity for violence, and eventually her father’s guilt. Vandelly did a superb job evoking sympathy for Dixie through graphic descriptions of the family’s murder, her memories, and the weird occurrences in her family home. But she includes a supernatural element that wasn’t explored well enough to invoke speculation from Dear Reader. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this marvelously macabre story from the publisher Dutton Books through NetGalley.